Understand The Times, International

Comment from UTT:

Roman Catholics are taught to believe in "venerating" the remains of a dead person. You can search the Bible and you will not find support for this practice which is rooted in paganism.

I have seen the remains (body parts) on display in Roman Catholic churches around the world. While in the Philippines I observed people "venerating" (bowing down and praying to a body part) as if the person was present.

Roman Catholics, who claim to be Christian, should lobby the pope and ask that this pagan practice be declared an abomination to the God of the Bible.

London, Jul 16, 2008 / 08:26 pm (CNA).- The exhumation of Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman has been requested by the Vatican to make veneration easier for his devotees. The prominent nineteenth-century convert from the Church of England is being considered for beatification, the last step before he is declared a saint.

Cardinal Newman's body was buried in a small cemetery at Rednal in 1890. According to the Telegraph, the Vatican wants his remains to be moved to a marble sarcophagus in the Birmingham Oratory.

Father Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory, explained the reason for the request: "One of the centuries-old procedures surrounding the creating of new saints by the Catholic Church concerns their earthly remains.

"These have to be identified, preserved and, if necessary, placed in a new setting which befits the individual's new status in the Church. We hope that Cardinal Newman's new resting place in the Oratory Church in Birmingham will enable more people to come and pay their respects to him, and perhaps light a candle there. Many will surely wish to honor this great and holy man."